Removable button



y 1958 J. 'r. BLAKE 2,835,948

' REMOVABLE BUTTON Filed July 15, 1955 F. 4 I 14 I0 I3 c \I! ,8 24 25 14, 29 15 United rates Patent 1 2,835,948 REMOVABLE BUTTON John T. Blake, Waterbury, Conn assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Application July 15, 1955, Serial No.

3 Claims. (Cl. 24-103) The invention relates to removable buttons and particularly to a button back in which is incorporated an 1mproved device for removably securing the threaded shank of a tack member for attaching the button to an article of clothing or the like.

As distinguished from devices of this general character employing metal spring clutches, my improved device employs a washer of elastically resilient material having a hole therethrough which is a little smaller in size than the threaded shank of the tack so as to grip the same. The resilient washer is mounted in such a way that it can flex inwardly when the tack is pushed into it so as to permit quick assembly, and the tack can be removed only by unscrewing it from the washer.

An object of the invention is to incorporate such a device in the hollow hub of the button back in such a way that the parts may be easily assembled and the resilient washer supported by the bottom wall of the button back hub.

Another object is to provide a casing containing the resilient washer and the casing is provided with means for preventing excessive tilting of the tack which in prior constructions has sometimes permitted the button to work loose.

Other objects and advantages will hereafter more fully appear.

In the accompanying drawings are shown for purposes of illustration one embodiment which the invention may assume in practice.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical central section through a complete button assembly including my improved button back.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the button, per se.

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view on a larger scale of the casing for holding the resilient washer.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same, and

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the resilient tack gripping washer that fits into the casing.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral desig nates a tack button consisting of a cap 11 closed on to the rim 12 of a button back 13. The back 13 is formed with a projecting hollow hub 14 having an opening 15 in its closed end or bottom wall 16.

A retainer cup or casing 17 takes the form of an inverted cup-shaped member within which is fitted a relatively thick cylindrical washer 18 of elastically resilient material such as nylon or one of the vinyl plastics. The casing 17 consists of a cylindrical wall 19, a top wall 2%! having an upwardly drifted central portion such as an annular neck 21, extending outwardly from said top wall. The resilient washer is anchored against turning within the casing 17 by means of lugs 22 sheared and formed in wardly from the closed end of said casing and deeply embedded into the adjacent surface of the elastic washer 18. The casing 17 with its assembled washer 18 is inverted and fitted into the button hub 14 and permanently held there in place by a series of projections 23 struck inwardly from the hub 14 and penetrating into an intermediate portion of the casing wall 19 as indicated at 24.

The tack button 10 is adapted to be removably held upon a support 25 by a press tack 26 having a shank 27 formed preferably with a buttress thread 28. In the assembly of the button 10 to the support 25 the shank of the tack 26 is first forced through the support 25, then lined up with the opening 15 in the button hub and finally forced through a restricted opening 29 in the resilient washer 18 and passing through the annular neck 21. The opening 15 is large enough to permit the tack to pass freely therethrough and the opening 29 in the washer is a little smaller than the tack shown so as to grip the 531116.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the resilient washer 18 is tightly seated against the bottom wall 16 of the hub 14 and that portion of the washer surrounding the opening 29 has some freedom to extend upwardly into the hollow defined by the casing neck 21. This allows the shank of the tack to be pushed axially through the washer opening 29, but any force tending to pull the button from the tack will cause the washer 18 to tightly grip the tack shank because the washer is confined against outward movement by the bottom wall 16 of the hub 14, and in order to remove the button from the tack it will be necessary to resort to an unscrewing operation.

It will be noted that the space inside the annular neck 21 permits the resilient material of the washer 18 to expand into it but the opening 15 in the bottom wall 16 of the hub at the opposite end is only slightly larger than the diameter of the tack shank and there is no chance for the press tack to be tilted relative to the button to such an extent that it could be forcibly worked out from the resilient washer.

Minor changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A button back in which is incorporated a device for removably securing the threaded shank of a tack member, said button back having a cylindrical hub with a bottom wall having a central opening large enough to permit the tack shank to pass freely therethrough, a Washer of elastically resilient material arranged inside said hub and provided with a central axial opening which is of a size a little smaller than said tack shank so as to grip the same, a casing for said washer, which casing is an inverted cupshaped member interposed between the washer and cylindrical wall of said hub, the top Wall of said casing having an upwardly drifted central neck with a central hole large enough to permit passage of the tack shank therethrough with a space between the neck and the tack shank to permit the resilient material of the washer to expand into such space, said drifted neck preventing excessive lateral movement of the tack shank, and means for preventing relative rotative movement of said washer, said casing and said hub.

2. A button back as defined in claim 1 wherein the means for preventing relative rotation of the washer is in the form of a series of lugs formed inwardly from the top wall of said casing and deeply embedded into said washer.

3. A button back as defined in claim 1 wherein the means for preventing relative movement of the casing is in the form of an inward projection on the button hub and which projection is embedded into an intermediate por tion of the casing wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,277,595 Jane Sept. 3, 1918 1,318,082 Iacoby Oct. 7, 1919 1,341,771 Allender June 1, 1920 1,489,778 Merzinger Apr. 8, 1924 1,826,665 King Oct. 6, 1931. 2,436,323 Nygard Feb. 17, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 9,724 Great Britain 1895 

